The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebel Netters Earn Preseason National Rankings
9/6/2005 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 6, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team placed three players in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) preseason national rankings released Tuesday.
Sophomore Nika Koukhartchouk, who had a successful debut in 2005, earned a preseason ranking of No. 59 in singles. Koukhartchouk posted a 21-12 record in her first season last year and finished ranked No. 88 in the nation.
Junior Ilona Somers begins her second season with the Lady Rebels ranked No. 100 in the country. Somers posted a 20-11 overall record last year, playing mostly No.2 singles for the Lady Rebels.
Somers and senior Virginia Tomatis are ranked No. 29 in doubles. Tomatis, a two-time All-SEC performer in doubles, has qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championships each of the last two years. Somers teamed with sophomore Mimi Renaudin last year to go 14-8 at No. 2 doubles, 7-4 in the SEC.
The Lady Rebels return five of six from last year's lineup, which combined to lead the team to its first ever SEC Western Division Championship and a return to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2002. In addition, the Lady Rebels received the prestigious ITA All-Academic Team Award for the ninth consecutive year.
The team will kick off the fall season Sept. 16-18 as they host the Ole Miss Fall Classic at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
